‘Terminator’ Polymer Heals Without Help

Taking a cue from early ’90s movie magic, scientists in Spain have reported the first self-healing polymer that “spontaneously and independently repairs itself without any intervention.”

Nicknamed the "Terminator" polymer as an homage to the shape-shifting robot from the sci-fi series, the new material could be used to improve security and lengthen the life of plastic parts in products.

Scientists in Spain say they have developed a self-healing polymer, dubbed the "Terminator," that doesn't require a catalyst.

While self-healing polymers aren't new, they usually require an external catalyst—such as heat, light or a specific environmental condition—for the cross-linking healing mechanism to work.

"The fact that poly(urea-urethane)s with similar chemical composition and mechanical properties are already used in a wide range of commercial products makes this system very attractive for a fast and easy implementation in real industrial applications," the researchers said, according to the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Terminator's 2 Experiments

According to the authors, the polymer acts as a Velcro-like sealant with a 97 percent healing efficiency in two hours.

After cutting the material—a cylinder made from poly(urea-urethane)—into two pieces with a razor blade and pressing them back together, the material was unbreakable after two hours when stretched by hand, the team demonstrated in a video presentation.

After being cut in half with a razor blade, the polymer heals on its own in two hours sitting on a table in room temperature, according to a video presentation.

Self-healing polymers that can spontaneously heal without a catalyst have never before been reported, the authors said. They reported that the regeneration occurs from a metathesis reaction of aromatic disulphides, which naturally exchange at room temperature, without the need for any external intervention such as heat or light.

In a second experiment, the researchers "chopped" an identical cylinder very slowly by the gravitational force of a copper filament attached to a weight. By the time the filament had gone completely through the cylinder, reseachers report that the first had already self-mended completely.